Chinedum Treasure
Wife of Anambra State Governor, Dr Nonye Soludo on Tuesday said her pet project, Healthy Living with Nonye Soludo was committed towards ensuring children of the state were saved from the threats of diseases aggravated by poor nutrition.
She acknowledged prevalent protein deficiency among Nigerian children caused by accessibility, availability and affordability of food items, including protein sources, pledging closure of such gaps through provision of all-round, effective intervention for homes and communities.
Soludo’s wife spoke on Tuesday in Awka during the launch of Nonye’s Healthy Living Pap held at the Dora Akunyili Women Development Centre.
She said nutrition which according to her is life, remained top of the six pillars of her programme as every other pillar depended on it to exist.
She said, “The idea behind this journey is to rescue our children with special nutritional needs. Ours is only a complementary step that supports existing strategic government policies.
“In the medium term, we want to move from our present second spot as the state with the lowest number of Under-5 mortality to the first position, and maintain the spot for as long as it takes. We are very close.
“In driving a commitment that thinks inclusiveness, we want to ensure that our children are saved from the threats of diseases aggravated by poor nutrition.
“Aware of the prevalent protein deficiency among children in Nigeria caused by accessibility, availability and affordability of food items, including protein sources, we want to close the gap by providing all-round, effective intervention for homes and communities.
“The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals number three captures our idea most succinctly.
While insisting that the pap is not only free, but strictly for children with special nutritional needs, Soludo revealed that local government areas with high population of children with malnutrition would be major focal point.
“We have carefully created a seamless distribution pattern for this product across the twenty-one local government areas of Anambra State.
“Every local government will have a known referral centre where this meal can be accessed. Each referral centre will develop a database that feeds our central database with information about collection, monitoring, and progress.
“Every child who is on the meal will be consistently monitored to ascertain their recovery progress. Records must be kept up to date to help us evaluate cases and results.
“I therefore, appeal to those in whose care we are leaving this product to understand its purpose and always stick to that,” she added.
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